The Moon in 1910

Publication date:
Sep 2, 2013 11:21:41 AM

Among the treasure trove of historical space documents held by the Regional Planetary Image Facility at UCL is a 1910 map of the Moon. Hand drawn by Walter Goodacre, then president of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association, this 25 part map is remarkably detailed, showing objects just a few kilometres across.

Observers today with modern telescopes do not see any more detail than Goodacre did a century ago if they observe the Moon from the UK. This is because of the turbulent atmosphere that degrades observations. Only observatories on mountaintops, space telescopes or, even better, space probes orbiting the Moon, can beat Goodacre's level of detail.

The full map of the Moon, along with other historical documents from UCL's collections, will be presented to the public at the European Planetary Science Congress exhibition next week, as part of the Festival of the Planets.

A selection of these, including a zoomable version of the whole of Goodacre's map, will also be published online on the MAPS Faculty website on Wednesday 5 September.

High resolution image

EU Referendum

EU referendum: UCL Provost's message to students and staff

In light of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, UCL President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur assures UCL students and staff from EU countries that they will continue to be as valued and as welcome as before. Professor Arthur also confirms that there will be no immediate changes to arrangements for EU staff and students.

Open Days

The Faculty participates in a number of open days throughout the academic year, including the UCL Undergraduate Open Days and the UCL Graduate Open Day.